Woman Lands An Interview at Nike By Putting Her Resume On a Cake



When it comes to resumes, it’s smart to think out of the box, but Karly Pavlinack Blackburn went way out of the box. Blackburn’s goal was to land a coveted position at Valiant Labs, a startup incubator for Nike ideas. Because working for a corporation like Nike is highly sought-after, she knew that in order to be considered, she had to stand out. The problem was that Valiant Labs wasn’t actually hiring. Despite that, Blackburn’s tenacious passion to make it happen inspired a daring move. After doing a little research, Blackburn discovered that Nike was having its Just Do It Day celebration. It wasn't just an ordinary celebration either, as featured guests included the likes of LeBron James and Colin Kaepernick, to name a few. That's when the clever idea hit her: send a cake with her resume printed on it to the party. Clearly, there were several complications to consider. Nike Headquarters is a massive 300-acre campus with over 75 buildings. Also, how could she possibly find someone with the matching tenacity to ensure delivery? Like any goal one looks to accomplish, she decided to take it one step at a time. After identifying the nearest Albertsons grocery store through Instacart, the first step was to place an order for a cake with an edible picture image. That was the easy part. The next step was finding a determined delivery driver, but that came surprisingly easy as well. The Instacart driver happened to be single mother of three Denise Baldwin. Blackburn was able to get Baldwin on the phone to express her unique goal. Baldwin went to work trying to get the cake delivered, and although she was asked to leave it at the front desk, she was resolved to get it to the person in question. Carrying the cake in one hand and her 8-month-old son in the other, she found the right person and instructed his secretary to call him down. After waiting a few minutes, the man appeared and said, “Oh, a cake, it’s too nice for me to cut into.” As for Blackburn, her out-of-the-box approach successfully landed her an interview with the Valiant Labs employer and others as well.